Microsoft's new app wants to convince you to switch to Windows Phone

Not begging, honest

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Like a crazy ex who won't stop texting, Microsoft has upped the ante in a slightly-too-desperate way in its bid to urge Android users to switch to the Windows Phone platform. Microsoft has launched a new Android app to show which apps will work if they make the switch.

Called "AppComparison", the app will take a look at the apps installed on your phone and compare them to those available on the Microsoft store.

If there's a match, it will tell you - and if there's not, it will scour Microsoft's apps for alternatives. For example, if it spots Amazon Instant Video it might instead recommend Netflix.

"It's a match"

What's interesting about the app is that it is effectively an admission by Microsoft that it knows the major weakness of its ailing mobile platform - the lack of apps.

The company has been struggling to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of needing more apps to spur user growth, yet more users to motivate developers to build apps for the platform. This new app is an attempt to tackle that head on.

Whether the app will win any converts remains to be seen, though it can't be a coincidence that the launch comes at the same time as the launch of the Lumia 950.

Features like "Continuum" on the Lumia 950 will let you turn your phone into an (almost) fully-fledged computer when plugged into a Microsoft DisplayDock.